Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Who
by Blue Mistfall
Summary: After bad luck including procedures for "becoming younger", Jamie and Victoria are changed into babies. The Doctor is to take care of them and find a way to get them back.
1. Flight

As usually, coming aboard the plane which was to cover the way from Berlin to New York was stressful for both passengers and stewards, though the latter were doing their best to seem friendly. Naturally, it was their job, despite there were lots of factors that would have broken them down, like people who would not obey the simple rules like listening to instructions before the flight or fastening the seat belts. But today seemingly everyone was quite normal.

Or not.

While examining the rows of seats with her look, the head stewardess unwillingly watched one of the passengers for a second longer than the rest. Why? There was nothing special about him. It was a small tramp of a man, dressed in shabby clothes which managed to be both too large and a bit short at the same time (apart from his coat's sleeves, which were ready to envelop his hands as well). But it was not about what he was wearing, it was about what was occupying his attention. He was holding two sleeping babies in his arms, which for now were curled up against him, their little fists clutching the folds of his light blue shirt with enormous collar (and a tiny polka-dotted bowtie hidden under it). Those were a boy and a girl, both with full heads of dark hair (the boy's was reaching his chin, while the girl's was longer, almost till her shoulder-blades), and this strange little man seemed not to be bothered with their presence. The stewards knew how annoyed the passengers with children could be, and here it was not about annoyance.

When the plane began gaining speed to take off, the little man's charges (or children - they could be as well) woke up immediately and began softly whimpering.

"Hush, hush, it's all right, I'm here", the little man said, holding them closer. The children sniffed two or three times, their chubby hands raising to their ears.

"Ah, yes, almost forgot. It's for just a time. Come here, Jamie". He put his fingers over the boy's nose. "Blow now. No, not through the mouth, through the nose". The boy obeyed. "Better? Yes? Now you, Victoria..."

After the procedure the babies stopped whining, but still clung to their guardian, not caring about being nearly tied to him with additional safety belts.

"My goodness, it must be hard to look after two of them on your own", the little man's neighbour, a quite young woman with a five-year-old girl by her side, stated. "Is this their first flight?"

"Yes, their first plane flight", the little man replied.

"Weren't you worried about taking them with you?"

"It was inevitable. Basically, I'm the only one who can take care of them".

"They're absolutely sweet, your children", the passenger from the side row mentioned. The little man wanted to reply, but then changed his mind.

A while later there was a new reason for stress, but nothing seemed to bother the little man. Now it was about fighting hunger - the usual plane food did not contain anything required for small children; what to say, it all was hardly acceptable even for a grown-up. Hah! The little man didn't even touch his portion of rice and beef - he preferred feeding a bun and banana rusks (the pack of latter was taken out of his pocket, and it didn't bother him that it wouldn't fit back) to his little charges. The babies appeared to be calm in this questions: they did not play up or anything, they just accepted what was given to them. The only breaking of the rules was committed by the boy: when he was done with his half of the bun, he stuffed his fingers covered in crumbs into the little man's thick black hair.

"Now that's no good, Jamie", the little man tutted, shaking the crumbs out of his mop. "I told you to behave nicely. Did I? Yes, I did. Now would you please obey?"

The boy blinked at his guardian and pushed his fist into his own mouth.

"I just don't understand how you're able to talk so calmly to them", one of the women from the side row noticed. "Usually children understand things only when you give them a good slap".

"Not always", the little man objected.

"You either have no experience of treating children or your head is in the clouds", the woman went on in the intonation of a lecturer. But that didn't bother the little man at all.

"Both", he replied in a casual tone, having pulled his cock-eyed bowtie out of his girl's grasp - she had begun yanking at it. "For me, everybody is children in some way".

* * *

"Why couldn't she land at the airport?.." the Doctor muttered to himself, but then recalled the events which had taken place after Jamie's yelp "Aye, it's a flying beastie!" and collected himself again. Jamie and Victoria were obediently toddling after him through the control bases, though their feet were tangling and their eyes threatened to overflow any moment. No wonder, nine hours of plane flight had been not a joke, especially for their present condition.

Thank goodness the psychic paper worked perfectly for Earth, without any complications... Having reached the hall of waiting, the Doctor flopped onto the free seat (which was the only free here: most of the future passengers were lying on the seats, asleep), and the kids climbed onto his lap. Yes, sometimes even such a cosmic hobo like him would dream of having a little child around, but he hadn't been expecting this to come true. And all due to too persuasive workers of beauty industry... obviously there had been an addition in the massage oil used on Victoria (she had asked the Doctor to introduce her to all those procedures), and the "skin youth" effect had appeared to be too strong and effective and infectious - for humans at least. Anyway, it had shown itself at the least appropriate moment - when the TARDIS had decided to use the HADS and was gone, having left the Doctor with two weeping toddlers. Thankfully his pockets which held everything had appeared to contain a dress, a pair of jeans and a shirt as well - all just for babies. I need to check them more often, the Doctor had thought.

He tapped on the homing device fixed on his wrist. The TARDIS should've been somewhere around, at least that was clear... but now it was about finding the needed time, because diminished Jamie and Victoria had no intention of being separated from their guardian, especially after the unpleasant experience of flying on board a plane.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little Who,  
Something special we're to do.  
Up above the world we fly,  
Like our TARDIS in the sky".

The Doctor hummed it because his hands were too occupied to get his recorder and operate it as required. Now the only possibility was waiting. Oh gods.


	2. Pied Piper

The homing device was showing that the TARDIS was close. Perhaps in space, but the time settings must have been unstable (no wonder: HADS wasn't used too often, so it could have turned rusty), so she still couldn't fully materialize. The Doctor had checked the place for all possible time warps, but the atmosphere in this sense was stable, so the only way was to let the TARDIS arrive was not interfering into her search of safe hour and minute. However, this was hardly an excuse from the statistical point of view... though who cares about statistics?

"Crumbs and crumbles", the Doctor muttered, tapping on the glass of the homing device (if not to look closer, it was quite similar to a wristwatch). The action was closely followed by two pairs of button eyes staring at him from the bottom. "It's all right, don't worry. We just have to wait a bit more".

"Aww", Victoria replied, her bottom lip trembling.

"If I said it'll be fine, it will".

"Wheeeeeee!"

This last was the sound of... guess what? While the Doctor had been busy making conclusions about what the homing device was showing, Jamie had sneaked into his pocket (never mind that it was bottomless) and now was twirling the found recorder this way and that, beaming with all of his tiny-toothed mouth.

"Give it here", the Doctor said quietly, but firmly. Jamie flopped onto the floor from the seat, but did not fulfil the request. "Jamie, give the recorder back to me". The boy stood up, smiling in a mischievous way. "Jamie!"

The next moment Jamie was running as fast as his legs could carry him, giggling like insane.

"Now you're going to get into trouble instead of me!" The Doctor stood up, and in some moments Jamie was practically hanging upside down over his arm, but still did not uncurl his fist with the recorder. "Give it here and..."

The phrase was not finished, for the faintest sound of TARDIS landing rang through the hall. Of course, at the background of human voices and announcements it was hardly heard, but those with trained ears caught it at the same time. The Doctor's ever-so-slight frustration was gone in a blink. Instead, a new thought appeared - if someone was to get into trouble, then he was to be this "someone". He lowered Jamie down onto the floor:

"So you want to run? Come along!"

* * *

"Mama, look, it's the Pied Piper!"

This sentence made even those who cared only about themselves raise their looks and see the sight which can't be seen at every airport. The kid who said this was not too right - there were only two kids following the odd little man who was playing a lively melodic song on his flute. Not only that: he wasn't just walking - it was more of dancing a kicky jig. And he did not care that not everybody felt positive about this.

"Who's blowing pipes here?.."

"SHUT UP!"

"There he is!"

"Man, people are sleeping here!"

The tension was gone as soon as the sound of flute was gone. So quickly. Suspiciously quickly.

* * *

"There we are". The Doctor pulled the closing lever and pushed the recorder back into his pocket. "Next time I'll try to shorten the waiting... Well, wee ones, what will you say?"

Jamie and Victoria bounced next to the console, attempting to see what the Doctor was doing.

"Right then, now I am to find a way to restore you back to your proper condition..." The Doctor sat down cross-legged next to the console and gently pulled Victoria to himself by her hand. "This is not going to hurt, Victoria. I'm simply going to check if everything is left as it's supposed to be..."

He got the sonic screwdriver out and pressed its tip to Victoria's temple, which caused an immediate and unexpected reaction: Jamie's eyes widened, he darted to them and attempted to pull the instrument away from the girl.

"No, no, Jamie, no..."

"Tor-ee-a!" Jamie yelped, oblivious that he wasn't strong enough to do what he wanted.

The Doctor let the sonic go and placed his hands over Jamie's shoulders to calm him down. A primitive thing, touch, but in this case it worked - the boy relaxed in some seconds, though his expression remained rather wary.

"Jamie, listen here, I know that you understand", the Doctor pronounced softly and in an even way. "I am not going to damage any of you, and you know it well. Now remain quietly here, I am to scan both of you. All right?"

Judging by Jamie's expression, he understood it perfectly well, though his eyes occupied half of his face now.

"There's a good boy". The Doctor let him go and returned to the task.


	3. Bubbles

Now this was reassuring. Contents of Jamie's and Victoria's brain and memory did not change, they simply switched roles. Really, if there were the actual "grown-ups in children's bodies", that would've been creepy... But no. Now the emotional aspect took over the rational. In all, it was clear that Jamie and Victoria knew who the Doctor was and completely trusted him, but their choice of decisions was turned upside down.

"Let's try simple ways", the Doctor said aloud, feeling slightly uneasy - those huge brown eyes wouldn't tear off him. "It all began with massage oil, so..."

In some minutes the simplest way to get rid of possible reason (and not only it) was organized. Now the Doctor was sitting on the side of the bath tub filled with water and a thick layer of white foam as well - this was just in case. Victoria was the first to be placed inside, while Jamie was put in a playpen behind the door - this was the only way to keep him away for a while.

"I haven't done this in a while..." the Doctor murmured and squinted - Victoria widely beamed at the sight of bubbles surrounding her and, as every normal child, began splashing and playing around. However, this did not last long, and bathing the girl took not too much time and trouble, apart from the matter that the result was not the expected one. Must've been gotten too deep to wash it off, the Doctor thought, having finished, and wrapped Victoria, who didn't mind at all, in a huge fluffy towel, then placed her into the playpen.

"All right, Jamie, your turn..."

Now this appeared to be not too easy. Jamie didn't want to be washed: when the Doctor scooped him up, he began squirming, attempting to get free, and two or three times he almost reached his aim, having nearly fallen onto the floor. When this part was over and the little one was placed into the refilled bath tub, his energy found a new way out: he began throwing "snowballs" (or rather "foamballs") at his guardian. But this was over as soon as he spotted that now the Doctor was not amused.

"I appreciate your wishes, Jamie, but would you sit still for a moment? The oil may have different effects with different-gendered people..."

But it didn't. Jamie was a child and remained the same all the while. And the Doctor's serious tone (which soon was gone: how can anyone be serious with a small being like this?) had a little effect: soon enough Jamie went on playing with bubbles.

"Close your eyes, Jamie, or the soap will bite you", the Doctor warned after having thoroughly rubbed the little one with a sponge. "What did I tell you?"

Jamie's high-pitched scream was the best answer, so the Doctor had to pour warm clean water over him, calming him down, for quite a long time. But when the bathing was over, Jamie made it clear that he didn't want to get out.

"Enough for today! Look down, you've splashed a whole puddle out!"

* * *

At last they were asleep in normal conditions, the Doctor thought. Jamie and Victoria were huddled under the blankets, keeping close to each other - even when they had been laid to sleep, they had refused to stay apart. Even more, when the Doctor had been about to leave, they had called out for him - in their own way, but clear enough to be understood.

"I'm to learn Baby language some day", the Doctor muttered. "Fine, now the rational thing to do will be..."

Not stopping murmuring to himself, he left, trying not to think about possible consequences of their (highly improbable, but possible) growing up during the sleep.


	4. Energy

"We are travellers. This is what we do".

"Are you God's people?"

The inhabitants of this Nordic village were wary of strangers. Usually the ones from the big world brought - or tried to bring - odd items or new laws which would break the natural laws, like a cart which could move without anybody pulling it or moving pictures, or anything else like this. However, this stranger was different from them all. From the very beginning, he was polite and wasn't talking about "making their lives better". And there were little children with him - a very, very rare feature for the newcomers.

"Let's assume we are. I wanted to ask you if there were odd things taking place here". The stranger gazed at the villagers surrounding him attentively, as if trying to guess if any of them was hiding memories. "Tell me about them".

"Witchcraft". Polyxene, one of the village's elders, crossed herself. "That is witchcraft. Someone comes for our children, and they are found frozen..."

"Comes for your children? How does it usually happen?"

"It leaves no footprints, nothing. In evenings, always in evenings or at night. The children are gone, and sooner we find them frozen to death..." Leena harsly kept herself from weeping - her only child had been gone not so long ago. The stranger frowned.

"Has it taken place before?"

"No. It started about two months ago", Polyxene replied.

The stranger turned around to see what was going . All the children were sitting behind them on the floor, listening to the adults' talk, and the little dark-haired boy in uncommon clothes was among them as well. But his friend was nowhere to be seen... As soon as the stranger spotted it, he darted to the exit and looked out:

"Anybody else missing?"

"My Erast is gone!"

A moment later the stranger was gone as well. Insane soul! There was such snowfall and storm outside that even the native villager wouldn't have found a way home, and no words about strangers! The next moment the dark-haired boy scampered to the exit with a cry of despair, but was caught by the closest adult. No, the villagers weren't going to sacrifice anybody, even the one from the big world. They didn't want to be sinners. And if it was about some hellish powers which the stranger was going to encounter, this was his choice.

The dark-haired boy was pushing the exit door till he grew tired, but this didn't give any result - it was too heavy and he was too small, Finally he sat down onto the floor next to it and dug his nose into his knees. Even better - he would not prevent anyone from watching from the window. Strange things were going on outside, though the snowfall covered almost everything - apart from fire column which appeared out of nowhere. Fire in the middle of snow-covered plain! And it was almost of a man's height!

Then the fire was gone as abruptly as it appeared, and in a short time the door opened again, letting a snow-clad figure in. A collective yelp of horror was heard, but a much calmer voice - though still touched by worry - covered it:

"It's just me".

The dark-haired boy bounced up with joy, because this was his guardian, judging by the voice and shabby clothing which was quickly shown from underneath the melting layer of snow. The stranger abruptly walked to the fire-place and put two little creatures he had been carrying next to it. Oh god. Those were his little charge and the missing boy Erast, both blue with cold.

"Hold it!" the stranger ordered, when Erast's mother rushed over to protect her child. "Don't touch him! If this process is broken, it can finish in the worst way. I will take care of them both, and promise you won't interfere". Pause. "Trust me. I'm the Doctor".

The collective mind existed. Now it was torn between two ideas - this man was insane, but he could help. He returned alive, and that was something... But when the action began, it was too late to get in. And the strangest thing was going on. The Doctor placed his palms onto the unconscious children's chests, closed his eyes, as if in deep thought, and all of a sudden fire began emerging from his fingers. No, that was not fire. That was mist - orange, sparkling and taking various shapes, and not charging up, but enveloping the children. An unearthly tune sounded in the air, so quietly, but it was heard, and the villagers repeatedly crossed themselves.

And suddenly Erast's lashes trembled, and his eyes were open. The same happened to the stranger's little charge. But the odd man continued performing his magic until all colors of life returned to the children.

And then it started.

The scared mother grabbed Erast as soon as the stranger's hand was removed. An explainable action, but also so infectious...

"He's a witcher!"

This yelp, like a gong, made all villagers go insane and afraid at the same time. At first they simply stepped face-to-face to the stranger, who walked away from them, his back to the front, clutching the little girl who clung to him as tightly as she could. The dark-haired boy appeared there as well - now he was in front of his guardian, holding a nicked poker like a sword. Something too mature was in this gesture.

"Run!"

The silence was broken, and the stranger was gone as well. No one wanted to walk outside in such snowstorm - again - but this time there was no fire, there were footsteps, and there was worry. Anxiety. No ore peaceful nights - at least for a week.

* * *

Jamie was running by the Doctor's side all the time, ready to whack anybody or anything with the poker. But this time nothing was in their way, apart from wind, cold and snow. The Doctor didn't mind this - of course, he could set his body temperature to feel comfortable, and this was nothing but a small frost, but he wasn't worried about himself, even though there had been damage. The creature that had been hiding in the snowy desert had been feeding itself on energy, and the best kind of it had been life force of children. This is why they had been found frozen. Victoria and that boy... what was his name, Erast?.. had been almost affected by it, but the Doctor had given some of his own life years up for them. This had been a worthy sacrifice.

"You were right, I was needed here", the Doctor muttered, having entered the console room and released Victoria - his legs were wobbling under him, and he didn't like the thought of regeneration deja vu. A nice sleep would be the best option... His condition muse been seen from the outside now, or was it about catching emotions? Because Jamie was staring at him from the bottom, his expression nothing else than that of an abandoned kitten.

"It's all fine, Jamie, now you won't need to protect us". The Doctor pulled the needed lever, and the double doors closed - only then Jamie cautiously leaned the poker against the wall. "Really, you won't... won't..."

Having stumbled into his room (the TARDIS was kind enough to shorten the way to it), he threw himself onto the bed and fell asleep in a moment. As it seemed to him, a second later he woke up - just to see the children sleeping on both sides. Jamie was cuddled up against his right sight, Victoria - against the left, and their hands were one in one over his chest.

Wish there were better conditions, the Doctor thought.


	5. Habits

"One, two, three, four, five... AH! Jamie, I told you to be quiet!"

The table on which the Doctor had been mixing a try-out portion of rejuvenation oil antidote, shook violently, and Jamie's head popped from under it. Luckily nothing suffered - this referred to both living and not living things.

"If anything of those spills onto you, it can burn you to the bone, so stop crawling around there", the Doctor mentioned, but Jamie went on sitting on the floor, head cocked to the side in curiosity. "Jamie, did you hear me? Out!"

Jamie stood up and walked away, hiding his face. The Doctor felt a twinge of regret about his sharp tone, but he was to finish the possible cure. When the ingredients were mixed, he walked into the console room and found both kids there, bunched together under the console.

"Jamie, Victoria, come out of there".

"Daddy cwoss?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. What, for Gallifrey's sake, was going on? Logically, kids always - fine, almost always - run away and pout if they're told to leave, but this was... even if the TARDIS exploded into a googolplex of tiny blue boxes, the Doctor wouldn't have been so thunder-struck. Ye-es, things would've gone completely different with the same companions, but grown-up, as required...

"No, no, Jamie, I-I-I'm not Daddy, I'm the Doctor".

"Dotta cwoss?" Jamie almost repeated, peeking at him with one eye.

"No, I'm not cross at you. At neither of you. But you know it well what can take place in case of mixing the wrong ingredient in! Don't you?"

Jamie nodded, now staring at the Doctor from the bottom, as well as Victoria.

"Good kids. I didn't mean to shout at you... Come on, I need one more piece for the puzzle".

Hesitantly, the children followed the Doctor back into the lab.

"You wanted to know what I was mixing? A possible antidote for you two. Guess that massage oil was not designed specifically for humans. Pay at your own risk!" the Doctor teased, sitting on a chair and plopping Jamie onto his lap. "But it needs to have a particle of a... well, victim is too strong of a word, but you know what I mean. And I think a bit of blood will do most finely. It's not going to hurt... almost. Very very briefly, I promise".

Jamie was silent when the needle punctured the tip of his ring finger and when several droplets of blood were taken from it.

"See? Now we add it right here and..." The Doctor groaned in reproach when the "antidote" reacted in the dullest way: instead of traditional reaction, there was nothing but a weak color change. So weak that uman eyes wouldn't have noticed it. The steel grey liquid got brownish shade, which promised to turn into scarlet - in no less than a few days. Dissatisfied, the Doctor performed the same procedure with Victoria, and the result was nearly the same, apart from her portion getting greener shade.

"I'm afraid that's not the best answer. Let's wait. If it's not what we need, then there will be a detailed search..."

The Doctor went on muttering until he noticed that now both children were clinging to him, but not in the "scared" way, simply seeking for comfort for themselves and their guardian.

"Habits never change", the Doctor murmured.


End file.
